A new portrait commission celebrating six Exeter academics who were part of the University’s first cohort of the 100 Black Women Professors NOW programme has gone on permanent display across the University's campuses.
A new portrait commission celebrating six Exeter academics who were part of the University’s first cohort of the 100 Black Women Professors NOW programme has gone on permanent display across the University's campuses.
The portraits, by acclaimed photographer Eileen Perrier, recognise the work academics who took part in the 12-month accelerator and change programme in 2023, which aims to increase the representation of Black women in senior academic roles across UK higher education while supporting wider cultural change within universities.
The photographs, commissioned by the University's Arts and Culture team, features individual portraits of Dr Liliane Mukaremera, Dr Suzanne Azer, Dr Safi Darden and Dr Iveren Winifred Nyinoh from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, together with Colleen Smith and Dr Melody Kuziwa Jombe from the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy. A large group portrait brings the six women together.
The individual portraits are now on permanent display on the Library Mezzanine at the Streatham Campus alongside the group portrait. Group portraits are also installed across the University's other campuses, with displays in both the libraries at Penryn and St Luke’s campuses, and at the Knowledge Spa cafe on the Truro Campus, ensuring the commission can be experienced by staff, students and visitors across Devon and Cornwall.
Working over four days in January 2026, Perrier photographed each participant in locations across the Streatham Campus chosen to reflect their research, academic practice and personal stories. Each participant also selected an object of personal or professional significance, which forms part of the finished portrait compositions, creating layered and intimate representations of their identities and work.
I’m delighted to have been invited to create this commission for Arts and Culture. Photographing these six remarkable women has been a real privilege. It has been especially meaningful to know that the portraits will become part of the University of Exeter Art Collection, where I hope they will continue to inspire future generations.
The portraits celebrate both individual excellence and collective achievement, providing visible role models for current and future generations of students while recognising the contribution Black women make to research, teaching and leadership across higher education.
These portraits are about creating visibility that inspires possibility. I hope they encourage someone to feel that they belong, to pursue an academic career, or to imagine themselves in spaces they may never have believed were open to them. If even one young person walks past these portraits and thinks, ‘There is a place for me here,’ then this commission will have achieved something truly lasting. To me, that is its greatest significance. My sincere thanks to Eileen Perrier, Sarah Campbell and the Arts and Culture team for their support, guidance, and professionalism throughout the process. It has been a privilege to be part of this commission.
As part of the wider commission, Perrier has also delivered photography workshops with local school pupils through B-HUGs (Black Heritage University Group, founded by Drs. Darden and Jombe), and Exeter College, providing creative opportunities for young people across the region.
It was a phenomenal experience to work with Eileen during the B-HUGs workshops. She joined, alongside this cohort of women, as a ‘Jegna’ who is an individual dedicated to heritage engagement and the defence, nurturing and development of young people. We work hard to ensure that sessions are reciprocal in learning and centre the voice and will of young people, something that Eileen achieved beautifully. We hope that we can continue to work with her as part of the B-HUGs initiative in the future.
Alongside celebrating the achievements of the six academics, the commission also contributes to increasing the representation of Black artists within the University of Exeter Fine Art Collection and are now part of the permanent collection.
You can find out more about the commission and see the digital portraits here.
I am very grateful to all of the women who have participated in this commission. It has been such a privilege to welcome Eileen Perrier to Exeter and follow her creative process over these many months, I have been hugely inspired by her practice. I would also like to thank the six colleagues who agreed to be photographed, for making time in their very busy calendars and share their stories so generously. The final portraits are stunning, and I am thrilled to be adding these works to the university’s Fine Art Collection, for current and future generations of staff and students to take inspiration for their own career pathways.
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